YEREVAN: Armenia is to airlift aid to Turkey to help survivors of the devastating earthquake despite decades of enmity between the two neighbours, officials said on Thursday.
An Armenian plane carrying 40 tonnes of emergency supplies including tents, sleeping bags and blankets was set to take off late Thursday, the emergency situations ministry in Yerevan said in a statement.
The ministry said that Turkey had officially requested the aid from Armenia.
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian on Sunday offered his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul assistance and condolences after the quake which has killed more than 500 people.
"I was saddened to learn the news about the loss of human lives, the devastation and people buried under debris that resulted from the earthquake," Sarkisian said in his message to Gul, which was posted on his website.
Relations between Yerevan and Ankara have suffered for years over Turkey's refusal to recognise the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians as genocide.
Armenians say that up to 1.5 million of their kin fell victim to Ottoman Empire forces.
Turkey counters that 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian forces.
The border between the two countries is closed and Armenia last year halted the ratification process of a landmark 2009 accord aimed at establishing diplomatic relations.
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